


Behind The Sea

by Cognitive_Vagabond



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M, Near Death Experiences, sorry ryan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6675376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cognitive_Vagabond/pseuds/Cognitive_Vagabond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan Ross lives a life both on land and in the sea. Pete is the king of the merpeople and Ryan is his ward. Merpeople don't like half-breeds which spells bad news for Ryan including several attempts on his life. With high school thrown into the mix, Ryan's life is far too stressful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that came into my head, hope you enjoy! This is my first time actually posting a story and it'll hopefully end up being decently long

Behind the Sea  
Chapter 1

Friday. A day that Ryan considered a God send. Being on land for five days straight was exhausting in itself, but this week had been especially terrible. With two projects and three tests, he didn’t have a moment of time to even go for a quick swim. He knew that he would be so relieved the moment he was able to go down to his underwater home. He couldn’t stop himself from staring at the clock. Only half an hour and he would be able to get out of there. 

“Ryan, could you please tell the class who the God of time is as you seem so infatuated with the clock,” Mr. Way asked. Ryan was ripped out of his trance and looked up at his mythology teacher with shock at being addressed. He then glanced over at his best friend Spencer who was discreetly sliding a slip of paper in Ryan’s direction. Ryan read it and quickly answered,

“Chronos.” 

“Correct, thank you Mr. Smith.” Busted. It’s not like Mr. Way really cared that Spencer was giving Ryan answers, he just liked people to pay attention when he talked because he’s relatively quiet, for a teacher. 

The rest of class went as usual, with Mr. Way going far too in depth about some mythological story that no one really cared about since the majority of the class just took mythology for an easy A. Ryan went back to staring at the clock and, thankfully, wasn’t called on again. 

The bell rang after what seemed like forever to Ryan and he bolted out of the room. Spencer had to practically jog to keep up. Ryan was his ride home and he knew that he wouldn’t leave him behind on purpose, but Ryan does get very antsy on Friday so Spencer wouldn’t put it past him to drive off quickly and forget about him until he was halfway home. 

“Jesus Ryan, I know you want to get to the ocean but do you really have to run out of the school?” Spencer asked after he caught up. 

“Will you keep it down?” Ryan whipped around, nearly slapping his hand over Spencer’s mouth. He had found out Ryan’s secret about a year ago. Ryan trusted him completely but he was on edge and really needed to get home. 

“Literally no one would find anything suspicious about that sentence.”

Ryan sighed, “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, this week has just been terrible.”  
“It’s alright, I understand,” Spencer said as they climbed into Ryan’s truck. They blasted Blink-182 the entire way to Spencer’s house.

“I’d ask if you wanted to come in, but I’m sure you just want to get home so see you Monday,” Spencer said as he left. 

Ryan felt kind of guilty. Most normal teenagers would hang out with their friends on the weekend but he couldn’t. He had to go to his other home every weekend. The home that was almost half a mile below the surface of the ocean. So, during the week, the only time he would get to see his best friend is during school and while he was driving him. Sometimes they would do homework together but that was the extent of it and that saddened Ryan to no end. He knew Spencer didn’t blame him but he couldn’t help feeling bad anyway.

Ryan pulled into the driveway of his home while he was on land. He was planning on making a quick escape to the ocean but that would mean slipping past Patrick and Joe without getting noticed. Patrick and Joe were kind of like his adoptive land parents. While both his biological parents are gone, he was taken in by Pete Wentz, king of Pacifica, and his guard Andy. That’s who he stayed with while he was in his other form. Patrick and Joe were good friends of Pete even though they’re human. Ryan, being only half merman, has to spend his time both on land and in the ocean so Pete and Patrick came up with the arrangement that he was currently living with. 

“And where do you think you’re running off to?” came a voice from behind him. Ryan turned around and there was Patrick standing with his hands on his hips, trying to look vaguely threatening which wasn’t easy considering Ryan is a good five inches taller. 

“You were planning on sneaking out to Pacifica without me noticing or doing your homework first, weren’t you?” Patrick said. Ryan knew he was caught but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to attempt to talk his way out of this. 

“Um, well, I ugh, can finish my homework Sunday night!” 

“You and I both know that’s a lie Ryan. You always say you will and then you come back extremely late and don’t do it then I get calls from your school about missing work,” Patrick said in a tone that Ryan usually wouldn’t disobey, but right now he was desperate.

“Please Patrick, this week has been awful and I’m practically suffocating! I haven’t been in the water all week,” Ryan said in a last ditch effort to make it to the ocean quickly. Patrick just sighed, not wanting to fight and he knew the kid had been working hard all week so, reluctantly, he let him go after warning him that he better be back at a reasonable time Sunday night or he’d send Joe down to Pacifica himself and drag him back to get his work done. 

Ryan thanked him and ran out the door. Patrick and Joe owned a house that was right on the beach in a very secluded cove. Ryan got to the edge of the dock and immediately dove in. He only had to wait less than a minute for his legs to become a magnificent tail with scales that had a red shimmer to them. Diving down as fast as he could, he felt happy to feel the water rushing past the gills on his side. 

It took about fifteen minutes to reach Pacifica and Ryan knew that Pete was probably in some meeting so he went right to his room that was near the top of the great palace made of pearl and abalone. 

“So the little prince returns,” said Jon. Jon was Ryan’s guard. Initially Ryan had scoffed at the idea of having a guard, but after one too many attempts on his life, Jon was a welcomed comfort. He was also one of Ryan’s few friends. 

“I’m not actually a prince you know,” responded Ryan, “Some things still run on bloodlines.”

“Oh please, literally everyone considers you a prince. King Pete especially since I’m almost one hundred percent sure he’s not planning on reproducing on his own.” 

Ryan sighed. Whenever he was in one place he always wanted to be in the other. Sure school was hell and he’s constantly itching to get back in the ocean during the week but he really didn’t like being treated like the orphan child that the king took pity on and made royal. He knew Jon was only teasing but many merfolk believe that Ryan should not be living in the palace at all. To them he was a disgraceful half breed that King Pete should not be associating with. Pete was like a father to him though, better than his biological one, and he wasn’t going to leave Pete just to avoid people’s opinions. Even if their opinions could cost him his life. 

“Why so glum, chum?” Jon asked.

“Did you… did you really just say that?” Ryan gave him a very questioning look. Jon just shrugged but the look on his face told Ryan that he was still expecting an answer. 

“Oh same problems as usual. Too much school work and no time to spend with my land friends,” explained Ryan.

“Friends? I thought you only had one friend?” Jon laughed. Ryan rolled his eyes but he knew it was true. He was worried though that one day Spencer would get annoyed with Ryan’s constant absence, even though he knew why, and would leave him. He didn’t want to think about that, even though he’d been dwelling on it a lot lately. Right now, he just wanted to see Pete and Andy. 

“Do you know when Pete’s gonna be back?” Ryan asked Jon. 

“Um-”

“How’s right now for you?” Jon was interrupted by an excited voice. “I've been waiting all week to see you. Was it really not possible for you to come down here even once?” Pete asked.

“I'm afraid not. School has been literal hell and finals are coming up so teachers are just packing on the tests and projects.” Ryan answered.

“Aw man, that really sucks. Human school sounds terrible. If it wasn't for Patrick's insistence I would have you pulled out of that school and study exclusively down here. You're never going to use any of that stuff you learn there you should be spending your time learning much more useful skills.” 

“Yeah I know, but school is the only place I see Spencer.”

“I just wish I could see you more often than just the weekends. I miss you too much during the week!” 

“Well you're gonna have to take that up with Patrick. I struggled to even get here as soon as I did. He insists that I have to do all my homework for the weekend before coming here.”

“Patrick is such a simple human. He acts like you coming here is a privileged but it's not! This is your home too!”

“Yeah yeah, I know. But at least I can be here almost exclusively during the summer.” Ryan sighed. He loved both Pete and Patrick as if they were his real parents but they have very different opinions on what's good for Ryan and Ryan really didn't like to pick sides. 

It had been eight years since he had been taken in by Pete. He used to live almost exclusively on land with his father, who was human, but he would occasionally join his mother in the ocean. His father died when he was seven and he then went to live with his mother. She was Pete's mother’s hand servant, but she always wanted to explore the seven seas and didn't want to be tied down with a child, so she left. It was Pete's mother initially who had taken pity on the poor abandoned half breed but it was Pete who had taken him in, knowing that Ryan would likely be killed if left to fend for himself. 

Pete took Ryan everywhere with him when he was a child. He had grown very quickly attached to the orphan and didn't dare to let anything bad happen to him. Ryan, having never had anyone in his life that really cared for him, was both grateful for Pete but at the same time shied away from the attention. 

Pete quickly realized that Ryan could not just live his life as the king of Pacifica’s ward and needed to have a normal human life on land. That's where Patrick came in. Patrick was a good friend of Pete's ever since he had saved him from a shipwreck and he loved kids so Pete knew that he would agree to watching over Ryan while he was on land living a normal human life. 

When Ryan was still in elementary and even middle school the arrangement Pete and Patrick had for him worked out well. He spent his time in Pacifica except for when he was at school or, on rare occasions, out somewhere with Patrick and Joe. But once Ryan was in high school, the arrangement didn't work out so well. He had so much work to do and Patrick wouldn't let him leave until it was done that he found himself spending more and more time on land until it came to the point that even being in Pacifica for the weekend was becoming a problem and he almost never could make it down there on weekdays during the school year. Add in Spencer to the mix and Ryan’s time was stretched very thin. 

Pete was still going on and on about how Ryan should do his studies in Pacifica during the week and stay with Patrick on the weekends as opposed to the other way around, but Ryan knew that would never work out since Patrick was so insistent on Ryan being educated the human way. The last thing Ryan would want to do is leave Spencer all alone at school so he went along with what Patrick said. 

“Hey Ry, are you even listening to me?” Pete asked. 

“Um, no. Sorry. What did you say?” Pete just rolled his eyes. He was used to Ryan zoning out when he went off on a tangent. That didn’t mean he was happy about though.

“Wow Ryan, I only get to see you the equivalent of two days now and you don’t even listen when I’m speaking!” Pete said exasperatedly, “I was asking you if you wanted to go get dinner.”

Ryan nodded and followed Pete out of his room with Jon. Andy joined them on their way down to the dining hall.

“So how did you manage to get past Patrick so quickly, Ryan?” Andy asked. 

“A bit of begging. He actually let me off really easy. I just have to be back at a reasonable time on Sunday.”

Pete scoffed.

“Patrick always has to take the fun out of things!”

“Calm down Pete, you know he only tries to do what’s best,” Andy said. 

“But he doesn’t have to be such a stick in the mud! He used to be fun.” 

Once again that day, Ryan felt guilty. He knew that Pete and Patrick used to be really close but now they’re always arguing. It’s always the same thing they argue about: Ryan. Ryan had expressed his guilt to Andy, Joe, Jon, and even Spencer but never to Pete and Patrick themselves. Everyone tried to reassure him that they always argued, they just hid it from Ryan at first and they were actually better off now that they had another person to worry about. 

They reached the dining hall and sat around the head table on the raised platform. Jon’s metallic silver tail blended right in with the polished abalone but Ryan’s rosy red tail stuck out like a sore thumb. Very few merfolk have red tails in the Pacific region because they don’t blend in with the natural growing kelps and corals. Ryan hated it sometimes because he was so easily identified by it. He often wished to have a tail the color of Jon’s or the muted greens, blues, and oranges that were most common. 

Pete’s tail was far more extravagant. It was black with shimmering gold scales. Anyone who saw him knew he was royalty. Tail envy was a problem among merfolk. In the past, wars had even been started because of scale color. 

Looking down at the plate that was set in front of him, Ryan saw that tonight’s meal was the usual: clams. He didn’t have anything particularly against clams, but because pearl is one of the most precious materials, there was a surplus of farmed clams. Pete insisted that they eat what everyone in Pacifica eats so they were often served clams. 

“So, what happened since last Sunday? You seem more out of it that usual,” Pete asked.

“I had three tests and two project that took forever to do,” Ryan went on, “I’m pretty sure I failed at least one of my tests. My choir teacher is a massive dick who gives all the good parts to his favorite students. He literally gave this kid, Brendon, a solo just because he’s a falsetto even though the part didn’t require a falsetto! Like, I’m sorry I can’t sing as well above the ground as I can underwater.”

Pete laughed. He enjoyed when Ryan talked about his land life, even though he can’t be involved in it. He does have a moon pendant that allows him to have legs for about an hour during the night, but he rarely uses it because he’s often too busy and he doesn’t want to bother Ryan, Patrick, and Joe so late during a weeknight. 

They finished their dinner and Pete had to go to one more meeting so he bid Ryan and Jon goodnight and swam off with Andy to the council room after giving them a warning to actually go to bed and stay there and not wonder off in the middle of the night like they are prone to doing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Jon do everything they're not supposed to

Chapter 2 

That night, Ryan actually did as he was told and stayed in his room all night. He was so exhausted from the week he had had that he was asleep the second he was in bed.

Ryan was notorious for sleeping a lot, but that Saturday he slept in so late into the afternoon that he was woken up by Jon shaking his and telling him that Pete had told him to wake him up because it was getting far too late and Ryan's sleeping habits were atrocious. 

He slowly swam down the hall wishing he could just go back to bed. Jon was trailing behind him, probably to make sure that Ryan didn't disappear into some quiet corner to take a nap likes he's prone to doing.

“So where is Pete anyway?” Ryan asked.

“He had a meeting to go to. He seemed pretty annoyed that you weren't up before he had to go.”

“Well he could have woken me up himself if he really wanted to.”

“He doesn't like you being annoyed with him so he gets me to be the messenger you kill.”

“Speaking of killing you, I need to go to the kelp forest and get Spencer bull kelp seeds.” Jon gave Ryan a slightly horrified look. Ryan has a habit of going places and doing things he really shouldn't and, of course, Jon always gets dragged along.

“Oh hell no! Last time we went to the kelp forest we got chased out by sharks that were seal hunting. There is nothing you could say or do to get me to go there and Pete would kill me if I let you go!” Jon was prepared to lock Ryan up until Pete got back just so he wouldn't have to deal with this, but he knew Ryan would find a way out. He always does.

“It's the middle of January, Jon. The sharks have gone to the south Pacific.”

“You know you're supposed to stay within Pacifica. Why do you insist on putting yourself, and more importantly me, in danger?” 

“Jon, it'll be fine.” 

And just like that, they were swimming out of Pacifica towards the vast kelp forest of the west. Jon was not happy about it one bit but he knew there was no way he could stop Ryan, so he had to make sure he didn't get killed while beyond Pacifica. 

“I hate you for doing this.”

“Yeah, I know. Just please don't tell Pete, he'll freak out.” 

Jon sighed. He knew this was going to end badly and Pete would probably punish both of them. At least Ryan can leave. Jon is stuck in the palace with Pete almost 24/7. Jon often got jealous of Ryan’s ability to walk on land.

They reached the kelp forest which, honestly, didn't look nearly as impressive as it used to. It's not just that fact that it’s winter, although that was apart of it. The humans produced a great amount of pollution that help destroy much of the natural underwater landscapes. 

Ryan swam to the feathery strands that make up the top of the bull kelp and split open the bulb at the base of the kelp. He pulled out several seeds and returned to Jon who stayed at the edge of the forest, but he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. 

The sea cave that exist along the kelp forests are generally uninhabited but Ryan could have sworn he just someone or something go inside.

He stopped swimming and stared at the cave while Jon came up next to him, wondering what Ryan was so interested in.

“What's up?” Jon asked.

“The sea caves are still empty, aren't they?”

“As far as I know.” Jon replied, “Why? Did you see someone go in there?”

“I thought I did. C’mon let's go see what they're up to.” Ryan said as he began to swim off.

“Wait! Ryan, we can't! You got what you came here for, now let's go before Pete finished his meetings and realized we're gone!” Jon panicked.

Ryan blatantly ignored Jon and continued on to the entrance of the cave. Jon caught up to him and physically tried to drag him away but when Ryan had his mind set on something, there really wasn't much he could do to stop him.

“Ryan, please, let's go home!” Jon said as he tried harder to force Ryan away from the cave, “It was probably just a lose piece of kelp that floated into the cave.” 

Ryan, obviously not convinced by Jon’s theory, swam further into the cave. 

“For Poseidon’s sake Ryan, stop!” Jon pleaded. There was almost no light at this point and Jon, for one, was a bit freaked out. 

The walls of the cave seemed to be closing in and the rocks were rather sharp. Jon was distracted when his tail was nicked but the rocks and he swam right into Ryan. 

“Wha-”

“Shh!” Ryan said, “Do you hear that?”

Jon waited a moment before he heard was sounded like faint chanting. He knew that could only mean bad news and, once again, tried to drag Ryan back. 

Ryan was having none of Jon’s insistence and pulled his arm out of his grasp and swam forward. 

The chanting began to get louder the farther he went until he could make out faint words.

“Disgusting half breeds-”

“Belong here, they do not-” 

“Dispose of-” 

“Show them all you're not the ordinary type-”

“Curse the-!” 

Ryan had stopped in his tracks at this. He knew people hated half breeds but he was unsure of exactly what was going on. 

Suddenly, as if a weight was flung into his chest, he was thrown back. His back hit Jon and they both hit the wall of the cave.

They heard the sound of of someone swimming quickly towards them and high-tailed it outta there.

They didn't stop once they were out of the cave. They swam at top speed all the way back to Pacifica until they were through the balcony doors of Ryan's room that Ryan slammed shut once they were inside. 

“What in the depths of Marianas trench happened back there?” Jon asked, trying not to shout. 

“I don't know!” Ryan exclaimed, “I was just trying to hear whatever that thing was saying and I was thrown back!” 

“Did you manage to make out what they were going on about?”

“They were talking about how half breeds are terrible and should be gotten rid of.”

“Oh.” Jon gave Ryan a look of pity. He knew what people generally thought of half breeds like Ryan but ever since Pete's rule, people generally kept quiet about their opinions.

At that moment, Ryan's door opened and Ryan and Jon almost screamed.

“What’s up with you two?” Pete asked, seeing the terrified looks on their faces. 

“Oh, it's just you.” Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. 

“And who else would it be, huh?” Pete asked as he swam into the room with Andy.

“Ugh, no one.” Ryan answered, knowing he was screwed. 

“Right, and what exactly have you two been up to today? Well, when I say today I mean the last two hours since you have no regard for the time of day.” 

“Oh, nothing much really.” Ryan answered.

“We just went for a swim around Pacifica.” Jon added, hoping Pete wouldn't ask anymore questions.

“If you two broke something just fix it before I have someone complaining to me, okay?” Pete said rolling his eyes, knowing that he should really have another guard watching them. “Dinner will be served soon, make sure you're there and not causing trouble.” 

“Because you're so good at staying out of trouble.” Andy said sarcastically, side eyeing Pete.

“Hey, I'm king, I can cause as much trouble as I please!”

“Remember Ryan, do as he says, not as he does.” Andy said as he and Pete left. 

Dinner went by as it usually did and Ryan and Jon made a quick retreat back to Ryan’s room. 

“Well today has terrifying and we are never going to the kelp forest ever again!” Jon said as he lay on his bed at the front of Ryan's room. “But at least that's all over and we can just have a normal day tomorrow.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jon was wrong. Sunday generally was a quiet day but very early that morning he was awoken by a kick to the face. 

Ryan had woken up seconds before Jon. He knew something was wrong immediately because he couldn't breath. He looked down as he tried not to panic and saw that he no longer had his long red tail, but legs. 

He sprung into action and swam as quickly as he could over to Jon and kicked him with his converse as when he goes for merman to human form, the clothes that he was wearing come back. 

Jon gave him a look of annoyance for a second before his tired brain realized what was amiss. 

Ryan knew there was no way he could get to the surface fast enough on his own to avoid drowning. He was trying desperately not to freak out because he knew that would shorten the time he had to survive but his logical mind was quickly being taken over by panic. 

Jon understood what he needed to do and grabbed Ryan by the waist, slammed open the door and swam faster than he ever had before in his life towards the surface of the ocean. 

Ryan lungs felt like they were on fire. His body was convulsing, trying to force him to breath air he didn't have access to. 

Andy had been down the hall in front of Pete’s room when Jon had burst out of Ryan's room and it took him a moment to realize that he was carrying Ryan, who was in human form. 

Pete came out of his room wondering what the banging was and Andy immediately grabbing his arm and began swimming after Jon. 

“Andy, what the hell?” 

“Ryan has legs for some reason!” 

“WHAT!” 

Andy didn't reply. He was focused on catching up to Jon.

When they reached him, Jon handed Ryan over to Andy since Andy is notoriously known as the fastest and strongest swimmer of all the Pacific merfolk. 

Andy was far ahead of Jon and Pete within seconds. Ryan was forced to give up his fight with his own body and water began to flood his lungs. 

There was only 25 feet left until Andy reached the surface and he was greatly concerned he was already too slow as Ryan had gone completely limp and became more of a dead weight than before. 

He saw the bright full moon moments before he broke the surface. 

He had Ryan’s head above the water but he was completely unresponsive. Andy quickly checked to see if he was breathing and had a pulse. 

At that moment Pete and Jon got to the surface. 

“Is he…alive?” asked Jon.

“Yes,” answered Andy after he was able to detect Ryan's shallow breathing and weak pulse. “But we need to get him to land and get the water out of his lungs quickly.”

Pete, who had just been floating there with a horrified expression on his face, snapped out of daze.

“We need to get ahold of Patrick and Joe. They have a boat and could meet us halfway!” 

“And how exactly are we supposed to contact them?” asked Jon as Andy was trying to get Ryan conscious.

“I knew I would have to keep in touch with them so I enchanted some shells. Unfortunately, it's back in the palace.”

Ryan began coughing and sputtering then and drew all of their attention. 

“Oh thank Poseidon, Ryan are you okay?” Pete asked.

Ryan couldn't answer as he continued to cough up water. 

“I'll get the shell,” Andy said, “I'm the fastest and I know where it is.

Andy handed Ryan over to Pete then dove down. Ryan was completely draped over Pete's shoulder as Pete tried to ensure his head stayed above the water.

“Shouldn't we start heading to Joe and Patrick's place?” Jon asked, unsure of what to do.

Pete nodded, knowing that Andy would be able to catch up quickly. 

They had to swim slowly to make sure that Ryan didn't slide underwater. Ryan just groaned and coughed some more but was mostly unresponsive. 

They made it about 20 feet by the time that Andy was swimming towards them, holding up the shell. 

Pete took the shell from him and started talking into it.

“Patrick? Pick up the damn shell right now, this is important!” He continued yelling into the shell until a staticky sound came out of it.

“What is it, Pete? You are aware it's the middle of the night, right?” came Patrick's voice. 

“Yes, I'm very aware! But that's not important right now! Ryan almost drowned!” Pete yelled.

“It's too late for your b.s. Pete. Ryan can't drown, he literally gets gills the second he's in the water.”

“That's the problem! He doesn't have gills or a tail right now! He's completely human and humans don't do so well in Pacifica!” Pete yelled, trying desperately to get Patrick to believe him. 

“Oh shit, seriously? Where are you? Is he okay? Joe, wake up!” they heard Patrick slap Joe to get him up.

“We're about a mile east of Whidbey bay heading towards your place. Ryan’s pretty much unconscious and there's not much I can do to help him while in the water!” Pete replied.

“Okay, me and Joe are gonna to head out in the boat, see you soon,” Patrick cut the connection there. 

They continued on towards Patrick and Joe's house for about twenty minutes before their boat came into view. They looked horrified when they saw Pete holding Ryan's limp form. 

“He's… not dead, is he,” Joe asked. 

“No, but he's certainly not in good shape at all,” Andy replied while Patrick leaned over the boat to take Ryan from Pete. 

Ryan was a complete dead weight. It took both Patrick and Joe pulling him up to get him into the boat. He was even more pale than usual and shaking like a leaf. Joe wrapped a towel around him and they laid him on his side. He began coughing again and spitting up a ton of saltwater. 

They all exchanged worried looks and Patrick went to start the motor on the boat so they could get Ryan back to the house as fast as possible. Meanwhile Joe was monitoring Ryan’s breathing as best he could remember from high school lifeguard training. 

Pete told Andy and Jon to go back to Pacifica as he was the only one that’d be able to walk on land and swam after Patrick and Joe’s boat while the other two returned home. 

The twenty minutes that it took to get to the house were agonizing for all of them. By the time they got there, Ryan was a bit more conscious but shaking even more.

Patrick quickly tied the boat to the dock as Joe slid his arms under Ryan’s armpits from behind. Patrick grabbed Ryan’s leg and they heaved him out of the boat. 

Pete pulled himself up onto the dock and his pendent on his necklace immediately reacted to the moonlight and his whole body was engulfed in a shimmering glow and his tail disappeared and legs took its place. 

Joe and Patrick were already rushing up the hill as carefully as they could carrying Ryan. Pete stood awkwardly, not used to being bipedal, and followed after them into the house trying his best not to trip on the way there.

As Pete walked through the back door, the other two were laying Ryan on the couch.

“Joe, can you go get Ryan some towels and blankets and a change of clothes?” Patrick asked as he knelt down by Ryan’s head. Joe nodded and rushed off upstairs while Pete joined Patrick by Ryan’s side.

“Is he going to be okay?” Pete asked. 

Patrick sighed, “Hopefully. I think he coughed up most of the water in his lungs but we can’t be too sure. I wish I could take him to the hospital but that would bring up too many questions.”

The room was silent for a minutes besides Ryan’s rough breathing, then the sound of footsteps rushed down the stairs drew their attention. Joe had returned with his arms full of everything Patrick requested. 

The three of them quickly got to work getting Ryan out of his soaking wet clothes and drying his off before putting pajamas on his and wrapping him in a blanket. Joe was then able to pick Ryan and and carry him to his room. The other two went ahead of him and pulled back the covers on his bed. Joe placed Ryan down and Patrick pulled the blanket over him as Ryan’s head lulled to the side. 

The three of them all sat around the bed, unsure of what to do now. About ten minutes passed before Patrick asked, 

“How did this happen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I just lost motivation despite having this chapter mostly finished for over a year...


End file.
